How did showing lambs influence your life decisions?
My family has raised sheep my whole life so all I knew was showing from a very young age. Outside of showing I also participated in livestock judging and continued judging wool, meats and livestock in college. Showing and judging created some opportunities that I would not have got anywhere else. This industry is full of leaders and the connections that are made through out it are unmatched. If I did not grow up in this industry I would not have had the internship and career opportunities that I have had thus far.
What was your favorite part about stock show?
My favorite part about stock shows is not only spending time with my family but also getting to see people from across the country who have the same passion for the industry as everyone else in the barn.
If you could go back in time, what is one barn chore that you would have spent more time on?
My family would always do our feeding and exercising together and everyone had their thing that they did. We would spend our mornings and nights in the barn. I guess if I were to pick one thing to have spent more time on I believe that you can never work too hard and always give more effort with showmanship, exercising or feeding and that would never hurt!
What is one piece of advice you would give any exhibitor?
Everyone wants to win a big show and there are very few people who actually get to do that. Looking back now it was the day to day work spent as a family that allowed me to continue to grow and gain values that mattered the most. Hard work and dedication to striving to be the best will go a long way not only in the show ring but once you are out as well. Surround yourself with successful hard working people and you will become that.
What do you do currently?
My animal science degree at Colorado State and masters in meat science at Texas Tech led me to my current career at Cargill Protein in Wichita, KS as a Trim Product Manager in the business operations and supply chain group. My family operates Frink Show Lambs in Eaton, CO and I assist with that when I can as well.
Some of your main stock show accomplishments/winnings:
My biggest accomplishment during my show career was winning Denver in 2015. This was not only a huge accomplishment for myself but for my family as well. Being from Colorado and winning with a sheep raised in Colorado by MacLennan’s made it even more special. My family had many successes over our show career including 4 Colorado state fair champions and 5 reserves. My sisters along with our mom and dad worked hard as a family and every win was won together.
